Viridi Raises €2.6 Million to Turn Captured CO₂ into Everyday Chemicals

Southampton-based deep-tech company Viridi has raised €2.6 million (£2.2 million) to scale its technology for turning captured carbon dioxide into useful chemical ingredients.

The round was led by Odyssey Ventures, with co-investment from Alphatron Impact Ventures and follow-on commitments from existing angel investors. TOP Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of Thai energy and chemicals group Thaioil, also joined as a strategic investor.

Founded in 2020 as a spinout from the University of Southampton, Viridi was built around research by co-founders Dr Daniel Stewart and Professor Robert Raja. The company develops catalyst technology that helps manufacturers use captured CO₂ as an alternative carbon source for producing chemicals traditionally made using fossil fuels or land-intensive raw materials.

Turning carbon emissions into useful ingredients

Carbon dioxide is usually treated as an industrial emission that needs to be captured or reduced. Viridi is approaching the problem from another direction by developing ways to turn captured CO₂ into commercially useful materials.

Its technology uses specialised catalysts to convert carbon dioxide into chemical building blocks that can be used in everyday products. Its first major application is surfactants, ingredients commonly found in household cleaning products, shampoos, detergents and personal care products.

The company's approach is designed to work with existing manufacturing infrastructure. This is important because industrial manufacturers may be reluctant to adopt new technologies if doing so requires expensive equipment changes or major production disruptions.

Viridi launched Vireya, its first CO₂-based anionic surfactant, in 2025. It has also signed a joint development agreement with German chemicals manufacturer Zschimmer & Schwarz to accelerate the scale-up and market adoption of its technology.

Expanding into international markets

The new investment will help Viridi scale its technology, strengthen its team and support commercial expansion into Asia and the United States.

The involvement of TOP Ventures is particularly relevant to its Asian ambitions. As a strategic investor connected to a major chemicals and energy group, it could help Viridi build relationships within an established industrial market.

Odyssey Ventures, meanwhile, is expected to support the company's expansion in the US.

For founders building climate and deep-tech businesses, Viridi offers an interesting example of how scientific research can become a commercial product. Its proposition is not simply about reducing emissions. It is about giving manufacturers a practical alternative to the raw materials they already depend on.

The challenge now is to move from promising technology and industrial trials towards wider commercial adoption. If Viridi can demonstrate that its CO₂-derived ingredients perform reliably and compete economically with conventional alternatives, it could open up a new market for carbon utilisation.

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Discussion question: Would manufacturers be willing to switch to CO₂-based ingredients if the technology offered both lower environmental impact and competitive production costs?